Oil powered lights?

Is this a metaphor? I suppose in a way they are oil powered but I am not sure that's going to help him...

Sort of

Thanks guys - Will keep you updated tonight.

Just went to check the fuses

All of them are good - Not one of them has blown.

Wasnt sure whether I explained the symptons accurately so I ll try again:

1) Put key in - Turn to 3/4 way - No lights

2) Turn key fully - STarter motors turns over - But engine doesnt catch

3) Release key - It goes back to 3/4 - All dahsboard lights come back on.

Apologies if that wasnt clear

Just remebered somethign odd yesterday night.

If you've got a multimeter, find out what the voltage is across the terminals. My money is still on the battery on a 6 year old car

Chris

Battery was changed about two and a half years ago.

What should the voltage be?

In fairness I have used it for short trips and with lights on so battery could be possible but why oh why does the starter motor turn over, lights work etc etc.

Do you not know anyone with a tow rope that could get your car to a place of safety? It definately doesnt sound like the battery , mine went last year and when it died I was still getting dash lights , but the engine would not turn over. It sounds like some kind of electrical fault in the dash lights and or immobiliser , I reckon its a job for a decent auto-electrician.

Bummer that - This is going to cost an absolute fortune to repair -

What a lovely New Years eve I ll be having :(

In fairness I have used it for short trips and with lights on so battery could be possible but why oh why does the starter motor turn over, lights work etc etc.

Off the top of my head, think the voltage should be at least 14.4V to successfully start the engine. Lights and the starter motor will still do something with a lower voltage, which could explain what you're seeing...

Rob.

Guess what - Now the dashboard lights dont work and the petrol gauge doesnt respond either - Its definityely got a half a tank but the needle doesnt budge...

Yesterday the petrol needle was working .....

Guess what - Now the dashboard lights dont work and the petrol gauge doesnt respond either - Its definityely got a half a tank but the needle doesnt budge...

Yesterday the petrol needle was working .....

All these will require a certain working voltage - if you keep trying to start the car and using lights, etc. then the voltage of the battery will further drop, such that you might now not have enough voltage available to power the lights and fuel gauge.

Rob.

I concur!

Chris

robmawer & Scooby CChris,

Thansk for all your help -

Now am I being a bit thick or are you saying that to calulate the amount of the fuel in the car , takes more power off the battery then starting the motor over ?

If not then I still dont get why the starter motor woks but the dash doesnt - If it was the other way round I would ny have asked...

I couldnt tow yesterday as I didnt know where the tow eye was - ...

I do now and ts going to get moved soonish - Before some a**hole smashes one of the windows and tries to nick the cigarette lighter

Battery being charged 14.4V sounds a tad high but it is ok, 13.8V is generally the target.

A lead acid battery should have a nominal voltage of 12V, if it's below 11.5V it is definitely not in a great shape.

A maintenance 'free' battery with loads of short runs etc may not last more than a few years anyway, and based on posts, I'd still get a new battery anyway

Isn't it 14.4V with the engine running and 13.8V with it not? Either way, it needs to be above 13V otherwise there's a problem

Chris

Battery being charged 14.4V sounds a tad high but it is ok, 13.8V is generally the target.

Has been a couple of years since I've had to charge my battery, I recall I charged it "incrementally" and it didn't start until it had reached 14.4V. That said, my multimeter is pretty skank so not sure how well calibrated it is...

Rob.

Latest update is as follows :

All fuses checked and have not blown.

Dashboard lights all of - Petrol needle doesnt budge - Starter motor turns strongly

Tried to jump start twice by attatching cables - No spark when cables attatched - No dashboard lights when jump cables attatched.

Does this eliminiate the battery being the root cause? If it doesnt start of a jump start I would have thought yes.

My post has nt appeared...

Ah it has -

Someone has suggested that on new cars there is a petrol cut off switch which wuld explain the starter motor turning over but not catching -

It doesnt explain the dashboard lights ...

What a lovely new years I m gonna be having :(

So the question is - Do I spend 50 quid on a new battery - Or do I bite the bullet and take it to the dealer and pay 50 pounds to have him assess the problem profesionally

hi again,

from the sounds of it id still be looking at the instrument cluster.(dash lights), behind this cluster is a controller which controls the imobisliser. if you take a working car and remove the fuse for the cluster, the lights dont come on and the engine will turn over but not start.

with this in mind it seems that you have:

a) have a faulty instrument cluster

faulty earth to the cluster

c)no power getting to the cluster ie burnt out wire or blown fuse.

d)the imobiliser needs reprograming to your key.

Have you checked the wire fuses under the bonnet on top of the battery? from my memory one is for the aux electrics in the car.

best of luck john

doesn't sound like the battery to me , could be an immobiliser problem or instrument cluster fault

VAGCOM may find some fault codes

is the red LED on the door flashing when you crank it ? this may show there is a fault with the key/immobiliser , but i would of thought that it wouldn't crank over

not sure whether it has a fuel cut off switch , but i'm sure it wouldn't crank over if it had been tripped